An open source smart thermostat is an excellent alternative for the power user. It can completely change the way you see your house and optimize the control over the temperature that you’re feeling daily.
What I like about having an open source smart thermostat is that you won’t have to experience glitchy firmware updates without you realizing it first. You will have full control over your information and software, that with a regular smart thermostat you won’t get.
An open source smart thermostat is a device designed with free software that lets you modify it for any automation purposes. Right now, the most recognized in the market is HestiaPi which runs on Raspberry Pi and is the pioneer for managing temperature and schedules with free software
Int his article we will dive into what is a smart thermostat that uses open source software and how you can even build one for yourself.
Also, we will discuss why can be an excellent choice for you if you don’t want to share any type of information with big companies!
Open source smart thermostat: What is that free software?
For some of us, hearing open source software can be daunting, for others more involved in tech it’s a piece of cake
But in general, I want you to think about open source software as a tool that differs from the commercial ones.
But if you want a techie answer for the term open source, here it goes:
An open source software is designed for the users and by the users. You can all the coding lines and make suggestions to the developer’s team to help them improve how the wrote the program.
Unlike other software, you can access everything behind the scenes and take a look at how it was designed and which coding language was utilized.
This comes very handily because this type of software is more reliable and strong compared to commercial ones.
Because, usually, the software is designed by a crew of hundreds of developers in an office and that’s it.
The idea behind open source is that is ever-evolving and keeps improving the lines with the help of others!
As a general example let’s think about Linux and Windows.
At its core, Windows has numerous defects that even its best developers haven’t seen.
Compared to Linux, you find that its core is extremely strong and it’s almost impossible (at the moment of writing this blog, of course) to break it with a virus.
I read a long time ago that for every 100 lines of code Windows has, there’s a 33% of change for improving
Compared to Linux, that percentage goes below 1%!
And what about Mac OSX? The probability for this operating system is below 5% as it uses Linux in its core, nevertheless, it needs to be corrected
That’s the magic behind open source software.
Software for your open source smart thermostat
Now that you know all the benefits of open source, let’s dive into which are worth mentioning for your smart home.
Open Hab system
Open hab is one of the most known open source programs for your smart home.
It works as a platform for leveraging the automation of numerous devices.
It’s super friendly because it uses a graphic interface that allows you to do the automation with a few clicks and it’s free! What an awesome word.
On the downside of this, if you want to automate your open source smart thermostat with it
In a very in-depth manner, the team behind open Hab warns you that you need to do substantial work for it.
In my case, I love to mess with software big time. I committed myself in the past to learn how to run Linux on my computer, and I did.
You should be willing to put in a little effort in learning all this new information in case you want to use Open Hab for your whole house.
I’m not saying that it’s hard, I’m saying that there’s a learning curve behind it that you need to trespass.
OpenHab runs on practically any operating system in the market. Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux, they got you covered.
Arduino
I can’t even count how many times I’ve found this open source software in the smart home forums.
Arduino is a generic (unlike openhab) open source software and hardware company.
This option for your smart home requires that you know lots of things in electronics beforehand.
But, if you want an open source smart thermostat, this is another great option for you.
Arduino even design single boards that you can use to build your thermostat!
It’s just a matter that you document yourself very well on the topic to get hooked with this technology.
If you want to get yourself involved with Arduino, I suggest this blog post when you can immerse yourself from a beginner’s point of view.
Open source Smart thermostat: Home Assistant
Home Assistant is an alternative to OpenHab.
It is a user-friendly platform that runs with open source software to aid you to automate any smart home device.
They released the latest version of this platform on July 28, 2020, and it is meant to become an excellent choice if you want to make a thermostat smart.
Again, the automation that this platform allows you is entirely up to the user.
They give you the tools to create the routines, schedules, and in general any type of automation skill that you require for your smart home.
But, it is up to you how you automate your open source smart thermostat.
When using any kind of open source software, as a general rule, there’s necessary an active input from the user to make it fully automated.
On the other side, using this kind of software allows you to automate any type of smart device exactly for your needs and ideas.
In the market are tons of already routines and schedules that in a way, are generic for the market
But if you want to use create very customized routines according to exactly to your schedule
Home assistant can be the way to go.
Home assistant is very versatile when we talk about controlling devices with Voice Assistants
In my opinion, A smart home needs a virtual assistant that helps you to control most of your devices.
And Home assistant is one of the few that helps you control your smart thermostat with Google Assistant!
Now, if you want to use it, you’re going to use a cloud-based subscription service provided by a Home Assistant partner called Nabu Casa
If you want to try it, they have a 31 free trial
How to get an open source smart thermostat
Now, the big question: how can I start and which open source smart thermostat should I get?
This all depends on your commitment to this idea.
Once you choose the best Open source software for you, it’s time for getting the actual thermostat.
One of the most common solutions for this is to get a z-wave thermostat and start automating with Open Hab
You can get a CT100 z wave thermostat and modify the temperature and create certain schedules.
If you get temperature sensors in each room, you can measure how the temperature is rising in the rooms and adjust the temperature accordingly.
This solution is called room occupancy and it can be super useful to adjust the temperature and save a little bit of money on the heating and cooling expenses.
Another fantastic solution is to get a HestiaPi Open source smart thermostat.
This smart thermostat runs with a Raspberry Pi board, hence Pi at the end.
This is the best option to start with because it’s already in place! You don’t need to learn about welding or get the parts to assemble anything.
I’m not saying that it would be bad to try to build your smart thermostat.
But, it’s nice to have the option there.
Comparison between a commercial smart thermostat and an open source
Because you can build your smart thermostat using open source software, it’s not easy to compare them with a commercial smart thermostat.
But for your knowledge, I’m going to choose an already built-one
The HestiaPi Touch ONE costs around 140 euros, and for the price, we can compare it with an Ecobee 3 lite.
But, and here’s a big one, in my opinion, isn’t fair to compare them straight away.
Because Ecobee is a huge company that has put a lot of effort and technology to make their thermostat better and better
Compared to HestiaPi Touch One that it is in the early stages, they need to improve the device way more.
You should focus your choosing option on what you want from your smart thermostat.
Using open source software gives you the freedom of not sharing information with anyone! And that’s a big pro that has this technology.
Compared to Ecobee, you won’t get this as much as you try.
But for the other features, Ecobee is the clear winner.
They have geofencing, an easy interface, better quality materials, customer support, easy schedule programming, numerous voice assistants for controlling the thermostat.
And the list goes on and on.
If you care a lot about not sharing your personal information such as temperature, humidity, and all the measurements inside your home, your best shot is an open source smart thermostat.
Also, keep in mind that nobody will have that kind of thermostat. You’re going to be unique and you can even brag to your friends with your coding skills!
Conclusion
An open source smart thermostat is a very interesting topic in the smart home world
You can build one exactly how you want it and control it without having to share any type of information and without expecting a glitchy update that may or not help your thermostat.
And believe me, once you decide to create this kind of smart thermostats, you will start creating other devices too!
But if you feel that is a commitment way to big, my best recommendation is to go with a commercial smart thermostat.
I know that it can be daunting to learn all these skills, but for some of us is fun and let us use free our imagination!